Telematics units within vehicles provide subscribers with connectivity to a telematics service provider (TSP). The TSP provides subscribers with an array of services including from emergency call handling, stolen vehicle recovery, vehicle diagnostics monitoring, GPS navigation, and more. Telematics units are often provisioned and activated at a point of sale when a subscriber purchases a telematics-equipped vehicle, though they may also be provisioned subsequent to an initial purchase event. Upon activation, the telematics unit can be utilized to provide a subscriber with an array of telematics services such as those described herein. Furthermore, subscribers may configure other mobile devices, such as a smart phone or a tablet computer, with a TSP in order to obtain telematics services on those other devices.
In order to provide telematics services, TSPs may contact subscribers on a variety of media through a variety of communications protocols. A TSP may place a voice or data call to or receive a voice or data call from a telematics unit integrated into a subscriber's vehicle. A TSP may also place a data call to or receive a data call from a subscriber's mobile device, such as a smart phone or tablet computer. Certain types of communication will be appropriate in some situations while other types of communication will be more useful in other circumstances. For example, if a user is experiencing an emergency, audiovisual communication with a live operator is likely to be the optimal method of communication. However, if the TSP is only reminding the subscriber of an upcoming routine maintenance event, a short text or image based message may be more appropriate than audiovisual communication with a live operator. In order for communications between a TSP and a subscriber to be maximally effective and minimally intrusive, flexibility must be maintained in order that the media and protocols used for communication between the TSP and the subscriber may be tailored to the service provided, the content of the communication, and the context in which the subscriber finds him or herself when the communication is to be sent or received.